Daily Updates about the Spying Alliance

Published in Rheinische Post
(Germany) on 3 August 2013
by Matthias Beermann (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Holly Bickerton. Edited by Bora Mici.
We learn something new almost every day about the formidable technical scope of the National Security Agency and its countless accomplices. We are told about quantities of data, which we can scarcely comprehend, and about a gigantic storage capacity and extremely efficient search programs. Two-thirds of Germans are worried by this, according to surveys; the other third is not. It is hard to say who is right. Is the American surveillance apparatus indeed dangerous for us? Or is it not the case that it protects us from terror?

It is the nature of the game that an intelligence service only discloses that, which can no longer be denied. This is what the NSA is doing; these salami tactics are fueling the outrage. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear that the agents had willing informers among large telecommunications companies and the endorsement of friendly governments. This serves to reinforce the impression of a spying alliance that can potentially spy on every one of us. Let's not deceive ourselves: The Americans are coming in for a lot of criticism at the moment, but they are not the only ones fishing for data. The British are doing it and so are the French, Russians, Chinese and, oh yes, the Germans.


Täglich Neues von der Spionage-Allianz

Beinahe täglich gibt es Neues zu erfahren über die ungeheuren technischen Möglichkeiten des amerikanischen Abhörgeheimdienstes NSA und seiner zahlreichen Helfer. Da wird von Datenmengen berichtet, die unser Begreifen übersteigen, von gigantischen Speichern und extrem leistungsfähigen Suchprogrammen. Zwei Drittel der Deutschen, so legen es Umfragen nahe, ängstigt das. Den anderen ist es egal. Schwer zu sagen, wer recht hat. Ist der amerikanische Spähapparat wirklich gefährlich für uns? Oder dient er nicht doch unserem Schutz vor Terror?
Es liegt in der Natur der Sache, dass ein Geheimdienst immer nur das preisgibt, was sich nicht mehr leugnen lässt. So hält es auch die NSA, und diese Salamitaktik schürt die Empörung. Gleichzeitig wird immer klarer, dass die Agenten willige Zuträger bei den großen Telekommunikationskonzernen hatten und die Billigung befreundeter Regierungen. So verstärkt sich der Eindruck einer Spionage-Allianz, die potenziell jeden von uns bespitzeln kann. Machen wir uns nichts vor: Die Amerikaner stehen derzeit am Pranger, aber sie sind nicht die einzigen, die nach Daten fischen. Die Briten tun es, die Franzosen, die Russen, die Chinesen – und, ach ja, die Deutschen.
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